Canadians Douglas Murray Suspended 3 Games for Vicious Hit (Video)

USA Today is reporting that Montreal Canadians defenseman Douglas Murray is getting three games off to think about the proper way to throw a body check.

Tuesday night, in the Tampa Bay Lighting’s huge win against Montreal, Lighting defenseman Michael Kostka dropped his teammate a pass as he crossed into the offensive zone. That’s when Murray delivered a devastating elbow shot directly to Kostka’s head. Kostka dropped to the ice and laid there. A stretcher was called but he was eventually able to skate off with assistance. He’s been diagnosed with a concussion and is out indefinitely.

For the life of me I can’t understand why you would purposefully throw a shot to another player’s head in any sport. At the professional level, everyone has had to commit entire livelihoods and work harder than the average person in order to earn a spot among the elite. A deliberate shot to the head like this is not only blatantly disrespectful for the career of the athlete, it’s also a terrible example for the youth hockey players watching how professionals play defense. It’s also the reason why so many are predicting the end of contact sports in the near future. When you want to complain about rule changes, about why flags and penalties are rendered so easily, remember garbage like this. If the leagues really want it stopped, issuing suspensions just doesn’t seem to be enough.

Check out the video below. Is a three game suspension enough to discourage these kinds of hits?